Years ago a group of us pastors were reminiscing about the call to ministry. Each one shared the particular way in which their call had been experienced. Even today I am amazed at the wide variety of ways this "calling" was felt and understood by different individuals.
One of us could trace his call to a time he was simply told by a visiting evangelist that he "would make a good pastor." Another had lived a wild life that was arrested by a bullet. He responded by going into ministry. One wanted "to be a minister" from child hood. As the group shared their sense of God's calling, one thing became clear: God doesn't call everyone in the same way. God is a lover of diversity and uniqueness. While the manner in which the call comes may differ, the general concept is consistent: a call to serve Jesus Christ and His gospel.
Having kept in contact with this group through the years, I know that each one has wrestled with staying with that "calling." As the challenges and cost of ministry have taken their toll, they have each seriously pondered the question Is it worth it?
That's a good question. A serious question. And it can be answered only in the context of God's call in one's life. To ask it outside of that context leaves out the vision that was there at some earlier point in life. Although a vision sometimes dims, vision is nevertheless a key component in answering the question Is it worth it?
Why are you pastoring? What are you hoping to accomplish? What are you committed to in this ministry?
While the greatest challenge in ministry may be the many hats you have to wear and the many "customers" (community, congregation, conference, family) you have to try to please, if you have no vision of why and what you are "called" to do, you're going to struggle in ministry. You will struggle with the "D's": dissatisfaction, disgruntlement, disgust, disillusionment, and disappointment.
The one thing that separates good pastors from mediocre ones, happy pas tors from unhappy ones, is vision and what that vision does in a minister's life. Vision gives meaning, sets boundaries, clarifies essentials and nonessentials. It gives direction and definition to a person's ministry. Vision takes the general call to be a minister and gives it specifics. It gives reasons for doing the things you do.
How does one maintain this vision? Here are four simple steps:
Grow spiritually in the call of God. The call of God is a continual process. God wasn't finished with you when He called you. There is never a time to be satisfied with the level of spiritual maturity you are presently at. "I press on toward the goal" was Paul's motto, "the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:14, RSV). These should be our objectives.
Take advantage of opportunities for growth. Find ways to put yourself in a learning position instead of a leading position, a listening position instead of a speaking one. "The key to maintaining your edge as a pastor is to maintain an ever-deepening love affair with God. Techniques and methods are useful, but they pale in comparison to the importance of an authentic and sincere devotion to the Lord."1
Build up the call of God in your life. Take time to develop your ministerial skills. Attend seminars and workshops by leaders who have shown by their lives that they "know of what they speak." Be willing to learn from others. Read, listen, talk with others with the intent to learn and not just to share or to teach.
Nurture the call by the choices you make, the opportunities you choose to accept. As you are faced with ministry choices and opportunities, evaluate them based on what you are after. If you're after a career, you'll make certain choices. If you're after fulfilling God's call, you just might make some different choices.
Recently a friend of mine turned down the opportunity to pastor his conference's largest church (1,000-plus members) because, while it was a "wise" career move, it wasn't a wise "call" move.
"The reason you were called to lead a remnant of God's people is not because of your potential to change the world (only God Himself can do that), but because of your availability to be used as a living instrument of His grace, power and wisdom."2
Stay available. Let your unique call to ministry motivate, encourage, and challenge you to stay on course in fulfilling God's work in your life. Press on toward the goal that God has called you to.
1. George Barna, Today's Pastors, (Ventura, Calif: Regal Books, 1993), p. 164.
2. Ibid.
